France abolishes license fees. President Emmanuel Macron is making good on a promise made during the election campaign. Update: Public broadcasters are now on strike.
Update 6/29/2022:
The French government’s decision to abolish the license fee is now leading to strikes among employees of public service broadcasters in France. That’s why there are only repetitions on television and only music on the radio, as reported by the Tagesschau.
update end
France abolishes broadcasting fees – original notification from 30.5.2022
In Germany, the license fee for financing public broadcasting is quite controversial. There are proposals to reform public broadcasting and criticism of the use of funds. But abolishing the broadcasting fee is not up for discussion in Germany. The situation is different in France. Re-elected President Emmanuel Macron abolishes broadcasting fees. This is reported by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ).
Broadcasting contribution: An ARD director earns up to 395,000 euros
Macron is keeping a promise he made during his election campaign. Funding for public broadcasting was a hot topic in the French presidential election campaign. Politically right-wing circles in particular wanted and want to abolish the public broadcasters – in this respect the right-wing parties in France and Germany are similar. Because in Germany, too, the AFD calls for the abolition of the broadcasting fee. It is therefore not surprising that AFD politicians like Joachim Paul welcome the abolition of broadcasting fees in France and demand the same for Germany.
Broadcasting fee: Too high salaries at ARD and ZDF
That’s how much the French have been paying so far
The French pay 138 euros per year, all at once in the autumn of each year. In 2021, the public broadcasters received 3.2 billion euros, as reported by the Tagesspiegel. In 2022, however, these broadcasting fees are no longer to be collected. Public broadcasting should instead be financed from taxpayers’ money in the future.
ARD boss aggressively defends higher broadcasting fee
For comparison:
The broadcasting fee in Germany is EUR 220.32 per year. This amount could soon increase, as Martin Detzel, head of the Commission for Determining Financial Needs (KEF), believes it is possible. To compensate for inflation-related cost increases. However, many contributors do not pay their broadcasting license fee: Broadcasting license fee – That much is not paid.
Incidentally, the contribution service no longer sends quarterly payment instructions. From now on, these will only come once a year. If you forget to pay your contribution on time, you have to pay a late payment surcharge of at least eight euros: It can become more expensive from now on – you should bear this in mind.